A Lost Arc: Neither Yet Both
by Ryann Charmington
Summary: The Sanzo party meets a brother and sister in the woods where no human aught to be. They journey to the West as well, but for reasons of their own. Rated T: some language, some violence, possible romance. My first fic in almost 5 years.


The light of the sun was waning fast as the Sanzo party drove through the woods. The road itself was one rarely used, and the grass growing over it and the trees reaching in so close attested to that fact. It had been almost three days since they had left the last town, and despite the aura that they had felt upon arriving there had been no sign of youkai activity anywhere in the area. The Jeep bounced over rocks in the road as they rumbled along in the otherwise still forest. Even Gojyo and Goku were tensely silent. Something wasn't right, and they all knew it.

Hakkai was the one who finally broke the silence. "I suppose we should stop soon and make camp for the night."

Gojyo leaned back in his seat, a lit cigarette dangling from his lips. "Three nights in a row even after that graveyard in the middle of nowhere? You've got to be shitting me."

"It's not as though we have much choice, Gojyo. The road will disappear once the sun sets, which would make driving too dangerous." He turned the Jeep off as he finished speaking.

"Does that mean it's dinner yet? I'm starvin' over here!" Goku jumped out of the vehicle and stopped suddenly, looking up. "Hey, guys?"

Sanzo was the next to look where Goku did, soon followed by Hakkai.

"What's the matter, monkey?" asked Gojyo, the only one who had not yet looked.

Two human men hung from a nearby tree by their necks. They swung gently in the breeze, in that stage of death where they no longer bleed, but the stench of decay does not yet cling to the air around them. Their faces were twisted in pain and fear.

"Whoever put them up there probably has not gone far," Sanzo said, pulling out his gun.

"Hey, Sanzo, look!" Goku pointed through the trees. "It looks like a camp fire!"

The four approached cautiously, Jeep having transformed back into a dragon and sitting on Hakkai's shoulder. In the twilight the modest flame seemed to grow brighter, illuminating the area. Upon the ground lay two packs and a figure wrapped in blankets, sleeping near the warmth of the fire. The figure stirred and groaned but did not wake as they drew closer.

"Keep your eyes open for whomever had the other pack," Sanzo said in a low voice.

There was the was the sound of wood tumbling to the ground and suddenly a man stood over the sleeping figure with his hands balled into fists.

How many more of you am I gonna have to kill today?" He seemed to say this more to himself than to the party. "I don't know who you are, but-"

There was a clicking sound from Sanzo's gun as he leveled it at the man's face. "Shut up for a minute."

An arm came out of the blankets and a hand wrapped around the man's ankle. "Toshi…" a voice whispered.

"I assure you that we mean you no harm," Hakkai began. "We were only investigating."

"Toshi," the voice repeated more urgently.

"No harm, huh? Then what's with the one pointing a gun at my head?" He nodded sharply at Sanzo.

"Toshi." The topmost blanket fell back a bit, "It's okay... not them..."

Toshi looked down. "You sure?"

"Mm," the blankets moved as the figure nodded. "I'm sure."

Toshi lowered his hands ad sighed. "Sorry 'bout that. You can put the gun down now." He took a step back. "We've just ended up fighting everyone in the woods for almost week. If Sachi here thinks you're okay though, I guess that's good enough for me."

Sanzo didn't move. "Were you the ones who hung the two bodies from the tree?"

"Yeah, that was we. Well, me anyway. Sachi was in pretty rough shape when the rest of them ran off. I strung 'em up as a warning to their friends if they tried to come after us again." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Would you mind putting the gun down now?"

Sanzo put the safety back on before putting the gun away. Toshi went to retrieve the fallen firewood.

"We're also the ones who dug the graves by the road." The figure pulled back a layer of blankets and propped herself up on one arm. "We figured they deserved better than to rot in the sun while they animals picked at 'em."

Her hair was cut rather short for a female, hanging no longer than her chin; but more remarkable still was a mark on her cheek. It appeared to be an incomplete star, solid in color, with its four points radiating from her ear. She took in the sight of them, one-by-one, her gaze lingering finally on Gojyo before looking at the fire.

The woods should be safe now though." She pushed herself up into a sitting position. "You're welcome to share our fire, if you'd like. I'm Sachi, and the one you already met is my big brother Toshi. Who are you?"

"Don't mind if we do." Before anyone had realized it, Gojyo was sitting next to the young woman. "I am Sha Gojyo, and it is a pleasure to meet you. Tel me, why is a nice girl like you out in the middles of nowhere like this?"

Sachi glanced at her brother before saying, "It's kind of a long story, Sha Gojyo, but perhaps I could tell you a bit later." There was a smile and look in her eye that was gone so quickly that most would dismiss it as a trick of the shadows. "And your friends here?"

"I'm Goku!" After this proclamation he plopped down by the fire as well. He leaned in close. "Do you have anything to eat?"

Gojyo reached in front of Sachi and pushed back Goku's face. "Back off, monkey!"

"Now, Goku, we have food of our own and you don't need any of theirs," said Hakkai before the two could break out into an argument. He turned to Sachi. "My name is Hakkai."

Sanzo stood a little farter away now, smoking a cigarette and looking irritated. Because of his apparent lack of interest, Gojyo decided to complete introductions for him.

"And the temperamental blonde in the dress is Genjyo Sanzo."

A bullet whizzed past Gojyo's ear and implanted itself in a nearby tree. Sachi yelped and started scrambling, eyes wide with shock from the sudden noise.

"You want to try saying that again?"

"I didn't think you were listening!"

A couple more gunshots followed. Almost too fast to be seen, Toshi swooped down like a hawk and snatched his sister away from the chaos.

"What the hell do you think you're doin'?" He held his sister back with one arm, rage-filled eyes aimed at Sanzo. "There is _no way_ that you're a real Sanzo priest." He rolled his powerful shoulders back and let go of Sachi. "If you're an imposter-"

"He has a scripture," Sachi said softly.

Toshi hesitated now as he eyed the scripture that lay across Sanzo's shoulders.

"I'm dreadfully sorry," Hakkai cut in. "We didn't mean to frighten you. Sanzo often uses his banishing gun to quiet Gojyo and Goku when they get a too rowdy. He meant no harm to your sister."

Hakkai's kind voice and reassuring smile were finally enough to calm Toshi to the point where he was comfortable leaving his sister's side. As the sun sank below the horizon, it was decided that the Sanzo party would make camp with the siblings for the night. As the starry sky wheeled overhead and Toshi watched over those by the fire, Sanzo pulled Hakkai aside.

"Do you really think those two could have taken down so many youkai and human bandits on their own?"

Hakkai glanced back at them before answering. "It's hard to say, but I have my doubts, assuming that they are what they seem"

Toshi could not hear them speak or read their lips from that distance in the dark. Of course, even if he could, he was more concerned with what was happening nearby.

Gojyo had one arm behind Sachi's back and was leaning fairly close to her.

"You know," he was saying. "I heard back in the village that the nights out here tend to get kinda cold."

"Oh, it's quite true," she said with a smile, scooting just an inch or so closer. "In which case it's a good thing I brought my blankets then, eh?"

Gojyo grinned. "You really should use all of them, but maybe we could share."

"Cut it out, perverted kappa!" Goku's voice shattered the relative peace that there had been until that point. "Do ya really have ta hit on every girl ya meet?"

Toshi was glaring down at Gojyo now like a dragon watching a treasure hunter get too close to his hoard.

"What do you think?" Sanzo asked. "If they are youkai then they have obviously found a way to disguise their aura."

"Which would make sense if they were powerful enough to not lose themselves when the Minus wave hit. But if they really are that powerful, it would seem likely that they are allied with Kougaiji and his group."

"Which would make them a threat." Sanzo let out a puff of smoke that curled upward and away from his lips before dissipating into the night air.

"Well, they don't seem interested in fighting now," Hakkai was saying near the end while Gojyo and Goku bickered again. "I say that if we are heading the same direction we should travel with them for a while. Maybe we could learn something."

Sanzo nodded. "I agree. They might be lying, but if not, we should know who they are and what they are after." He sighed. "With all these detours, it'll be _years_ before we make it to India."

"Assuming we ever _get_ there at all."

They both turned and looked at the rest. Toshi, a menacing guardian; Gojyo and Goku, fighting like young brothers; and Sachi, the strange girl with an innocent laugh and a strange dark mark on her cheek. Illuminated by fire and framed by darkness, they seemed at once full of light and passion, yet haunted by the darkness that surrounded them.


End file.
